The papers of Suzanne Mullett Smith measure 3.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1992. The papers document her career as a painter and art historian through artist statements, a resume, correspondence, personal photographs, sketches and sketchbook, and other professional material; class and course notes, articles, and other writings; clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs and other printed material; research material related to Arthur Dove conisting of correspondence, notes, Master's Thesis, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and photographs of Dove's works.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Suzanne Mullett Smith measure 3.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1992. The papers document her career as a painter and art historian through artist statements, a resume, correspondence, personal photographs, sketches and sketchbook, and other professional material; class and course notes, articles, and other writings; clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs and other printed material; research material related to Arthur Dove conisting of correspondence, notes, Master's Thesis, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and photographs of Dove's works.
Professional material includes artists statements and a resume, work with American University and the National Society of Arts and Letters, and correspondence including letters to her husband, Gordon H. Smith. Also included are some of her sketches and sketchbooks and photographs of Smith, Smith with family and friends, and Smith's wedding album.
Writings consist of class notes from Smith's studies at American University and a number of articles written by her. Articles include "A Testimony of Healing," "Art and the War, " and "(Jose Clemente) Orozco Paints."
Printed material consists of newspaper and magazine clippings, a scrapbook of clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs.
Research material on Arthur Dove consist of Smith's thesis statement, draft and 1944 version of her Master's thesis, correspondence with Dove, research notes, newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, photographs of Dove's works, a catalog of Dove's artwork, and an index card inventory. Also included are a number of microfilm reels of material on Dove.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1: Professional Activity Files, 1913-1989 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1, 4, OV 6)
Series 2: Writings, 1923-1975 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1923-1992 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 4: Arthur Dove Research Material, 1932-1988 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 2-5)
Biographical / Historical:
Suzanne Mullett Smith (1913-1989) was an art historian, author, and painter who lived primarily in the Washington, D.C. area. She wrote her 1944 American University Master's Thesis on Arthur Dove, entitled "Arthur G. Dove: A Study in Contemporary Art." In 1976, she completed a revised edition of this thesis.
Provenance:
Material on reels 2425-2426 donated 1972 by Nathaly Baum. Material on reel 1043 lent for microfilming 1976 by Smith, and except for the 1976 revised thesis, was subsequently donated along with the unmicrofilmed material 1992 by Daisy Mullet Smith, Smith's daughter.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
An interview of Mildred Constantine conducted 1965 October 15, by Harlan Phillips, for the Archives of American Art. Constantine speaks of the Federal Art Project in New York and its work; working for Audrey McMahon; the influx of foreign artists in the 1930s; the changes brought about in the art world because of the Federal Art Project. She recalls McMahon, Edward Alden Jewell, Holger Cahill and Jacob Baker.
Biographical / Historical:
Mildred Constantine (1914-2008) was an art historian from New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 16 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art consultants -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Sidney Gordin conducted 1965 Sept. 2, by Dorothy Seckler, for the Archives of American Art.
Gordin speaks of immigrating to the United States from Shanghai, China in 1922; being the class artist in grade school; attending Brooklyn Technical High School; studying at the WPA art school at the Brooklyn Museum for a summer; attending the Cooper Union School of Art; encountering Cubism; working as a commercial artist and making cartoons; teaching at the Pratt Institute; and alternating, as inspiration strikes, between painting and sculpture; and Constructivist philosophy. Gordin also mentions Ralph Rosenborg, Tom Eldred, Carol and Wallace Harrison, Edward Alden Jewell, Pablo Picasso, Byron Thomas, Morris Kantor, Hans Hofmann, Paul Clay, Jackson Pollock, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Sidney Gordin (1918-1996) was a sculptor and educator from Berkeley, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 1 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- California -- Berkeley -- Interviews Search this
Two letters, 1943, to Edward Alden Jewell, art editor of the New York Times, written in response to a published editorial in which Rothko attempts to explain modern art; handwritten notes and notebook with entries about art and the creative process; and 8 undated sketches. Microfilm title: Carson family papers.
Other Title:
Carson family papers (microfilm title)
Provenance:
These Rothko papers were in the possession of George Carson, husband of Rothko's ex-wife Edith Carson. Carson turned the papers over to the Mark Rothko Foundation, and gave the Archives of American Art permission to microfilm them.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Edward Alden Jewell. Letter from Edward Alden Jewell to Arthur Dove, not after 1946. Arthur and Helen Torr Dove papers, 1905-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Edward Alden Jewell. New phase in art noted at display, 1947 January 23. Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
